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Division Spotlight
Human Factors, Instrumentation & Controls
Improving task performance, system reliability, system and personnel safety, efficiency, and effectiveness are the division's main objectives. Its major areas of interest include task design, procedures, training, instrument and control layout and placement, stress control, anthropometrics, psychological input, and motivation.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Christmas Night
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the houseNo electrons were flowing through even my mouse.
All devices were plugged in by the chimney with careWith the hope that St. Nikola Tesla would share.
Yuqi Liu, Shuai Che, Adam Burak, Daniel L. Barth, Nicolas Zweibaum, Minghui Chen
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 5 | May 2023 | Pages 907-919
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2103343
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Fluoride salt-cooled, High-temperature Reactors (FHRs), featuring particle fuel, graphite moderator, and molten fluoride salt coolant, are used for electricity generation and process heat applications. The primary loop of an FHR is a closed loop that operates slightly above the atmospheric pressure with the fluoride salt temperature over 600°C. Reliable high-temperature molten salt pumps are critical to the successful deployment of FHRs. To stabilize rotating shafts and reduce the associated friction coefficients, well-designed bearings are required for molten salt pumps. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the detailed hydrodynamic performance of bearings under high-temperature molten salt conditions. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics software package, i.e., STAR-CCM+, was used to predict the performance of fluoride salt–lubricated bearings. The numerical models were verified and validated respectively based on an analytical solution derived from the Reynolds equation and experimental data published in the literature. Good agreement was observed between the simulation results and the analytical solution and experimental data with a maximum relative discrepancy of less than 5%. The validated numerical model was then employed to predict the pressure distributions, applied static loads, and power losses of high-temperature fluoride salt–lubricated bearings with various Sommerfeld numbers. In addition, a parametric analysis was performed to investigate the influence of the axial and helical grooves of bearings on applied static load and power loss. It is found that under the same salt lubrication conditions, the bearings with helical grooves and axial grooves respectively yield 20% off and 14% off power loss compared with the bearing without grooves.